Monthly Archives: November 2021

Situated in History

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Abigail

Situated in History This might be an unusual trait, but I am someone who has trouble knowing who she is, and what life asks of her, until she gets some clarity about her place in history. By “place in history” … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, Chivalry, Christianity, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Race, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, Utopia, victimhood, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged alternate timeline, biblical archetype, Cain and Abel, cheap grace, Chilul HaShem, Christian forgiveness, curing racism, desecration of the name, ecological solutions, feminine dignity, forgetting wrongs, forgiveness as therapy, forgiving wrongs, global competition, God as Witness, God in history, God's feminine image, history and Jews, history as illusion, Isaiah's vision, Jewish forgiveness, Jewish identity, linear time and narrative, linear time and religion, messianic expectations, original sin, personal transformation, place in history, Plato's Republic, redemption, satyagraha, saving the planet, sibling rivalry, spiritually incurable, stains on conscience, the course of human events, the historical condition, time and Jews, wrestling with the angel | Leave a comment

“Thankfulness”

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Abigail

“Thankfulness” The other day, in the Saturday morning Torah Study class at my Reform temple, we were studying the verses on the ancient temple cultus detailed – and I mean detailed – in the Book of Leviticus. My patience with these Memory … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Faith, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, History, Ideology, Philosophy, Psychology | Tagged anger, bad faith, blessings, candor, collective community, Committee of Public Safety, consensus, convenant, decorum, dissent, Foucault, French Revolution, gratitude, Hebrew Scripture, homophobia, honesty, ideality, inauthenticity, insensitivity, Islamophobia, Israel, kibbutz, Leviticus, Mount Sinai, personal sincerity, politeness, Political Corrrectness, popularity, prayer, racism, ritual, sacrifice, sexism, Thanksgiving, The Archaeological Method, The Terror, Thought Crimes, Torah Study, unity | 2 Comments

Christians, Jews, and The Great Rift

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Abigail

Christians, Jews, and The Great Rift I prefer to think of that world-historical-fault-line as a long, reparable misunderstanding. Whether or not that’s the right view, personally I want to patch it up. Yet I recall a Jewish scholar, speaking at … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Action, Afterlife, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, Childhood, Christianity, Cities, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Films, Freedom, Friendship, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, life and death struggle, Love, Martyrdom, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Sexuality, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged bible movie, biblical cannon, celibacy, Chaim Tchernowitz, chastity, Christianity vs Rome, combat surgeons, cultural treasure, Daf Yomi, daily life in antiquity, diaspora, divine inspiration, early Christians, Eberhard Arnold's The Early Christians: In Their Own Words, Einstein, esoteric text, Gemara, historical misunderstanding, IDF, Isreali Arabs, Jewish continuity, Jewish scholar, Levinas, mishnah, multicultural differences, pagan gods, providential interventions, Public Intellectual, rabbinic Judaism, Rav Tsair, Roman law, sacred texts, Sermon on the mount, Socrates, spiritual heritage, spriitual realities, Talmud, Talmudic commentary, Talmudic conversations, Talmudists, virginity, world historical rift, Yair Rosenberg | Leave a comment

The Soul Writ Large

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Abigail

The Soul Writ Large Plato wrote a dialogue on political justice. In English it’s titled The Republic. Besides Socrates, the major speakers are Plato’s two brothers. They are trying to solve a problem that’s been set up by an intruder … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute freedom and terror, Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social climbing, social construction, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L Rosenthal’s Confessions of a Young Philosopher, American in Paris, British attitudes to women, cultural density, cultural layers, culture and nature, Darwinian struggle, escape from history, Fulbright fellowship, gnostic belief system, masculine culture, personal as political, philosophy and the feminine, Plato, political justice, power as explanatory, power struggle, real-world problems, Socratic dialogue, soul writ large, spiritual exhaustion, street smarts, student life in Paris, study abroad, The Republic, Thrasymachus, unreal solutions, utopian delusions, women’s fears | 2 Comments

Desire, Distraction and Dialectic

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Abigail

Desire, Distraction and Dialectic I have a woman friend whose mother hated her in the womb. Surely an exaggeration! — you may protest. Well, I met the lady only once, but she was the coldest being I ever encountered who … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "created equal", 5th Commandment, a mother's instinct, a mother's love, aim of history, aiming at purity, being hated, contradictions as opportunity, contradictions in history, coping with history, end of history delusions, enmity distracts from one's story, fatal flaw, female coldness, foundational relationship, founding contradictions, French Revolution, gaslighting, holier-than-thou, honoring parents, human imperfection, human traffickers, knitting women, Les Tricoteuses, living in history, method of denunciation, method of dialectic, narcissistic mother, object of hatred, personal history, playing the cards you're dealt, politically sexy, prenatal struggle, psychological abuse, recovery from gaslighting, recovery from longterm abuse, religious obligation, search for purity, self-trust, slave system, societal denial, strategies of hatred, The American DNA, the Guillotine, unease of the founders, unmaternal feelings, unmaternal instincts, unvalidated experience, USA as motherland, woman friend | Leave a comment

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Monthly Archives: November 2021

“Thankfulness”

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